ann12098 — Announcement

ESO Chile Hosts International Conference on Physics and Astronomy

10 December 2012

A scientific workshop and conference Ciencia de los Extremos, las partículas elementales y el Universo (Extreme Science, elementary particles and the Universe) was held on 6–8 December 2012 at different sites of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile.

The meeting, which featured leading researchers from the fields of physics and astronomy, was arranged by the ESO representative in Chile, Massimo Tarenghi, and the President of the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research of Chile (CONICYT), José Miguel Aguilera. The workshop brought together more than 150 scientists from Chile and other countries.

During the opening day at ESO’s premises in Santiago, more than 80 graduate students, astronomers and physicists attended six lectures on the latest developments in the fields of particle physics and astronomy.

On the following day, more than 50 physicists and astronomers talked about the different possibilities for these two sciences to contribute to one another. "It was a great opportunity for scientists from different fields to share knowledge and strengthen new bonds between astronomy and physics," said Tarenghi, when the day was about to end.

The event ended on 8 December 2012, with a trip to ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory, located in the region of Antofagasta in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Accompanied by Massimo Tarenghi, some workshop participants, together with a group of young people from the Antofagasta region, visited ESO's flagship observatory, one of the most advanced in the world.